With the release of THE STRANGE CASE OF…, I fell in love with Lzzy Hale. So much so, in fact, that I jokingly got down on one knee and asked her to marry me at Rock On The Range two years ago (a proposal that she didn’t flat out turn down, so maybe there’s still hope!!). Let’s be

Sometimes I judge things without ever giving them a chance. This happens primarily because I get 30-40 releases to review. That said, if there's zero in the 1/10 of a second when I see the initial press release that interests me, a release goes low in the review pile. Most times, enough new stuff comes in where I don't end up getting to it. Halestorm is one of those bands that I just missed for what i guess has been 3 years. I remember when their debut came out I thought, based solely on the name of the band, that they were one of those horrible Celtic Folk Metal bands that Nuclear Blast seems to try to force me to like every quarter. I'll admit it, I judged this book by its cover (in this case, their name). Sorry about that.

Beer-chugging German thrash metal heroes TANKARD will release their 30th anniversary release, entitled A Girl Called Cerveza, on July 27th via Nuclear Blast. The album was jointly produced with Michael Mainx (BÖHSE ONKELZ, DER W, DISBELIEF, D-A-D) and features the following tracklisting:

With just 300 tickets remaining to the 2012 edition of the annual, multi-day Atlanta, GA hosted festival, organizer Glenn Harveston has issued his State Of The Union Address, regarding the show. Always the straight-shooter, he addresses some rumors, including the future of ProgPower USA. In short, if the show fails to sell out, or come damn near (in advance), then he's packing it in (ie: the end of the fest). There are currently no plans, nor negotiations underway and has rebuffed the money sponsors pledge for supporting particular bands attending the following year.

Wow! Europe has been pretty good recently, but never in their career have they been this good. Yes folks, it seems that the band that created arguably the worst back to back hits the 80s hair scene had to offer ("The Final Countdown" and "Carrie") have completely reinvented themselves. By completely, I mean that there's not a single note of music here that could be mistaken for anything in the band's past. In fact, I'd bet most people wouldn't even recognize this as the same band.

"We are Motorhead, and we play Rock N' Roll", Lemmy proclaims while casually walking out to the front of the stage in Santiago, Chile. We've all heard it so many times. What follows next is a no frills, straight forward onslaught of typical Motorhead madness...just like it's always been...throughout the entire length of most of our lives!

As '90s and '00s metal developed, one of those that had a solid run was the band Soil. Their distinct brand of universally solid barroom rock was combined with a sense of modern flavor to give them a unique experience that was all their own. Unfortunately for the band, they had a very, very public fallout between themselves and vocalist Ryan McCombs in 2004 when the vocalist left to join Drowning Pool. The band continued on to have moderate success, but fans always longed for the day when McCombs would find his way back to the group.

That day is today. The band recently announced that McCombs has rejoined the fold. The band are playing shows again, writing new music, and preparing a brand new DVD called RE-LIVE-ING THE SCARS. Through the glory and ease of Email, PITRIFF caught up with bassist Tim King to get some insight into the reunion, and just how the band got past some of the public negativity they let loose on each other a decade ago in order to work together again.

It's interesting just how the tables have turned for Great White. On the morning of February 21st, 2003, you have to think that not a single member of this band, past or present, wanted to be associated with the band in any way. A decade later, there's two versions of the band floating around and trying to claim themselves as "the real" Great White. It's a sad state of affairs, really. Jack Russell is out and about doing his thing, and then this band with guitarist Mark Kendall, keyboardist Michael Lardie, drummer Audie Desbrow and XYZ frontman Terry Ilous are out doing another thing. The "Kendall" version of the band is the first to produce new music with ELATION.

It's ironic that shock rocker Marilyn Manson's career didn't crash and burn due to waning interest and a lack of ability to shock people anymore. Sure, both of those things have happened to Manson, but how quickly we all forget that those first several albums had some real musical meat on their bones as well. No, it wasn't anything outside that killed off Manson. It's was Manson himself, as he decided that he was his character and the world would be interested in his relationship struggles as converted and perverted into the soundscape he records with. To say the least, it was a monumental flop. Both of his last two droning tales of relationship woes, EAT ME, DRINK ME and THE HIGH END OF THE LOW. Sure, both had their moments of patented Manson Violence, but both were ruined by morbid tales of relationship failures and the deviant thoughts he was having as relationships ended. Simply put, those albums were not very good at all.